Presence Of Mind
by Dalakh
Summary: ABANDONED The X-Men rescue a mutant from a gang and bring her to the school, where they find that the girl isn't all that she seems.
1. Thanks, not

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Falcon

**

Authors Note: You can post this story anywhere ya like as long as you ask me first other wise I'll get MAD 'kay? 0:) I own Falcon you can use her as long as ya ask me first and give me all the credit for her character! Enjoy and please Review!!!! This is like my first X-MEN fan-fic so, I'm gonna say it again -Please please please please read and review!! 

*** 

Chapter 1  
A girl walked the streets of New York apparently aimlessly, not noticing the other 3 mutants following her. 

"Remind me 'gain why we're doin' this?" Wolverine complained, 

"Because the Professor told us too." Stated Cyclops for the millionth time. 

"Yeah but, why?" 

"The Professor just said to follow the girl and get her to come and speak to him." 

"Great, now we're running errands!" 

Suddenly the girl dipped into a back alley; the X-Men followed and saw a group of youths waiting in front of the girl. 

"Uhhh hi guys...?" the girl stopped short of the youths when she saw them, 

"Hi freak. Now, what have we told you about coming here mutie?" 

"You said that I couldn't go down the other alleys -not this one." She pointed out, 

"Now you can't come down this one alright?" 

"No. I like this alley." The girl stood her ground -not for long however, 

"Oooooh, what are you gonna do: kill us?" leered another as the group closed into a tight circle around her. 

From behind a wall the X-Men observed the scene, 

"They're gonna beat the living crap outta her!" whispered Logan, 

"We CAN'T let them do that Scott." Agreed Storm. 

However, even as they said this, he punch was thrown sending the teenager to the floor. 

"Alright. On three. One, two, three!" The X-Men charged out of they're hiding spot into the throng of gangsters knocking them some out of the way while the rest merely ran out of fear after seeing three mutants chasing towards them. Once they had all gone Storm kneeled down next to the girl. 

She had long straight brown hair streaked in varying degress of ranging colours, including blue, red, gold and pink, that she had tied into a plait, a pale complexion and hazel eyes and now a bruise was beginning to show along her cheekbone. 

The girl wore street clothes in the form of jeans at least 2 sizes too big for her; a grey long-sleeved shirt underneath a plain blue T-shirt while a sleeveless denim jacket was on top. 

"She's been on her own for a while -or she likes a lot of layers." Ororo said as Cyclops came over with Wolverine, 

"I am here y'know." As she paused to sit up she gave Wolverine a 'you're-weird-look' and carried on, "It's the first one." 

"You okay?" asked Storm, 

"Sure." 

"Do you have a name?" Cyclops asked, 

"Yep." 

"Can you tell us what it is?" 

"Yep." 

As we all know Logan has a short temper so he got sick of all this 'yepping' and 'sure' quickly, 

"Tell us your name now then." He demanded gruffly, 

"Sure if ya'd jus' calm down a bit jeez. They call me Falcon." 

"Do you want to come with us?" pushed Scott, giving Logan an icy stare through his glasses, 

"Why the hell would I wanna do that?" questioned Falcon as she got up off of the ground. 

"WHY??!! We just saved ya arse THAT'S why!" yelled Logan. 

"You ARE mutants right?" she didn't carry on before they had all nodded, "Right then. I could've flown outta there when ever I wanted, why do you think they call me 'Falcon' because I have a flippin' beak? Jeez you guys!" 

"You can fly?" asked Scott, 

"Yeah. Among other things." 

"Falcon if you come with us we'll give you some food and drink plus a bed." Reasoned Storm, 

"Done!" was the immediate response. 

The four mutants walked out of the alley quickly, not wanting the previous gang to arrive with more members, and they made their way back to the mansion with Falcon trailing behind them wondering if they would notice her leaving or not. After the first two tries, she realised they did notice everytime and dragged her feet the rest of the way. What had she gotten herself into now? 

*** 


	2. And Logan gets personal with the floor

Authors Notes: chapter two folks! i don't particularly like the first chapter, but in my opinion this one is slightly better. I'm going to try and improve it throughout, and these first chapters may get re-written again (I've already made a few changes to chapter one).   
Forgive the characterisations -i've only seen the movie a few times, and those situations do not give me any help on how to deal with the problems faced in this story so far and what will happen (no, i'm not gonna tell :P) .... so yeah. i've done my best.  
Review Thanks To: Jen, Hawkboy_01, Kalie, Amara LeBeau, Owl, Belladonna Fait, Ares, Samus, Xia, Kat. Special thanks to Samus, who's suggestion i've taken up in the rewrite slight of chapter one.  
Disclaimer: The only thing i own is the plot, and Falcon.  
  
***********  
  
**Falcon**  
  
Chapter Two  
Falcon sat alone in Xavier's Office opposite a big, mahogany desk, looking around warily every other minute and thinking it how she didn't know it was possible for a place to be this boring.   
  
Big doors behind her swung open to reveal Professor Xavier wheeling himself in, followed by four others. Sliding behind the desk, Xavier was about to introduce everybody when Falcon beat him to it.   
  
"Hey, what's happenin' around here? Aside from nothing?" she asked,   
  
While many others would have frowned at such an interruption in their own home, Xavier went on with what he was going to say, as well as answering the girl's question, without the slightest hesitation,  
"It's a school, which we will explain later. First I would very much like to introduce myself and my friends here."   
  
Falcon shifted in the chair, "Fine. Then can I get outta here?"   
  
"You're free to leave whenever you wish -this isn't a prison. However, I would appreciate it if you stayed here for awhile, just to see what its like."   
  
The unusual politeness grated on her nerves like sandpaper, she just wanted some food and then to get on out of this school, "Whatever. So who exactly are you, Baldy?"   
  
Xavier smiled slightly, "I'm Professor Charles Xavier, and you are in my school for the gifted -for mutants. This is Scott Summer, also known as Cyclops; Ororo Munroe, also called Storm; Logan, known as Wolverine; and Jean Grey. I believe Jean is the only one you haven't met already?"   
  
"You'd believe right -so what's her nickname? Ginger? Making yours Baldy, right?"   
  
"No to both."   
  
She shrugged, looking at Jean, "Yeah, you're right. Ginger isn't right -but you're still gonna be Baldy, Baldy." Jumping out of the chair she smirked at the X-Men, "See ya around."  
Wolverine blocked her path.  
"Get out of my way Wolf-Gang."   
  
"You said that you'd stay to see how it was." He growled.   
  
"Yeah, I seen -and now I'm goin'." She looked into his eyes, "Now get out of my way."   
  
Storm stepped towards the pair, it was interesting to see Logan doing what Scott had done when Logan first arrived, but now was not the time for him to be growling at a mutant newly bought to the school.  
"Falcon, please, just sat for one night." She pleaded.   
The teenager turned around, hands on hops, to face the white-haired weather mutant,  
"What's in it for me?"   
  
"Like we said before: a bed and some food."   
  
Sighing she nodded, food was what she wanted, "Fine, I'll stay 'til tomorrow."   
  
Xavier wheeled himself around from the desk, now smiling warmly, "If you would, I would like to know what your powers are."   
  
"That's nice."   
  
When no other answer was forthcoming, Xavier continued, "Are you willing to tell us, or maybe show us?"   
  
"Sure, whatever."   
  
A few moments later and she still hadn't shown or told.   
  
Scott took half a step forward, "Will you show us now, Falcon?" he asked.   
  
Falcon grinned, "Sure Scott, you want a demonstration?"   
  
"Be my guest."   
  
Her grin split from ear to ear; at the same time Logan's feet also left the floor until he was hovering four feet in the air.   
  
"Can you leave him there?" smiled Cyclops.   
  
"Scott!" Jean chastised him with a mild swat on the arm and a glare.   
  
He gave her an innocent look, "What?"   
  
Meanwhile, Falcon still hadn't let Wolverine down, and he was slowly getting closer to the ceiling.   
  
Wolverine growled, "Put. Me. Down. Kid." He ground out through gritted teeth.   
  
"Whatever you say Wolf-Man! Oh, and don't call me kid!"  
Logan slammed down onto the floor with a thump and several explicit words. Getting up he lunged for Falcon and attempted to chase her around the office until she jumped to the left and rolled up behind the three standing spectators.   
  
"Ha ha Wolfie."  
His only response was a glare and another growl.   
  
"Logan don't encourage her." Xavier said, but even he looked amused at their antics, "Scott, would you and Jean show Falcon around please?"   
  
"Yes Professor." The couple nodded their assent and showed Falcon out of the office.   
  
Once they had left Storm and Logan gave the Professor bewildered looks.  
  
"Is something wrong?" he questioned,  
  
The remaining X-Men said nothing for a moment, then Storm ventured,  
"Earlier on she said she flew. She said she could fly, she didn't say she was telekinetic."   
  
Xavier frowned, why would she say one thing and then do another?   
"It appears there is more to Falcon than meets the eye."  
  
Logan rubbed his head, "What do you want to do?"   
The girl may have kept him hovering above the ground and then dropped him, but that didn't mean he hated her. He did want to know why she'd lied to them though.  
  
"Nothing. Maybe she'll remember what she said and explain later." Xavier wheeled himself to the door, but paused at the exit,  
"Don't say anything yet, from what I could read without entering her mind was that she is frightened of something. I fear it may be us."  
  
With that he left, leaving two puzzled mutants to leave in his wake.  
  
****  
  
Starting down the nearest corridor they began explaining small things about the school, when Jean asked,   
  
"So, do you have a name? Other than Falcon?"   
  
"Yep." Stated Falcon, looking into an empty classroom.   
  
"Can you tell us it?" the older woman ventured,   
  
"Yep."   
  
Jean, seeing that no answer was forth coming, and the all-knowing look on her boyfriends face, decided to find out what was going on. Rather than scanning the girl's mind, she contacted Scott silently through their telepathic bond, to find out what he was smirking about.   
  
//What are you so happy about? Do you know why she won't answer the question?//   
  
//Yes.//   
  
//Are you going to tell me?//   
  
They walked outside into the gardens and Scott took the chance to grin at her whilst Falcon wandered about a few paces ahead.   
  
//But it's so much fun!//   
  
//Scott// her mental voice screamed that he was in danger of annoying her, but it was so much fun.   
  
//You have to phrase your question just right or else she won't answer it. Like, you said 'Can you tell us it?' and she can, because she has a voice and she knows her real name -but you didn't ask her to tell us it, not really.//   
  
//Smart Ass.//   
  
//Thanks.//   
  
New information in mind, Jean tried again with another try,  
"Will you tell us it?"   
  
"No."   
  
"Why?" asked Scott,  
"Don't wanna."   
  
The couple didn't push it, if she wasn't going to tell now, they could always ask her later, once they'd all had something to eat -maybe then Falcon would see she could trust them.  
On cue, they arrived at their final destination: the cafeteria.   
  
"You hungry?" asked Jean as they went to get trays.   
  
Falcon nodded, "Yeah, just a little."   
  
  
  
-----------------------  
  
Post Authors Notes: Hmmm, so her powers don't have much to do with her name. I know. Its allll to do with whats gonna happen, don't worry folks. :D  
Please review, if you do i'll review you too as soon as i can. (bribery :O)   
--lani,  
xxx 


	3. Just a regular day, running through the ...

Authors Notes: Ooo slightly longer this time!  
  
Forgive the characterisations -i've only seen the movie a few times, and those situations do not give me any help on how to deal with the problems faced in this story so far and what will happen (no, i'm not gonna tell :P) .... so yeah. i've done my best. *MWAH* i just saw X2 though, and WOW. :'( don't like the end though.  
Review Thanks To: Tigereyes -*mawh* attitude! attitude! An Anti-Sheep Cheese Muffin -heeheee everyone likes her attitued ^_^  
Disclaimer: The only thing i own is the plot, and Falcon, and him.  
  
-------------------------------  
  
**Falcon**   
  
_Chapter Three_   
Falcon moved swiftly on to a second round of food -it was a rule she'd invented for herself many years ago: never refuse free food.  
Some people always gave her funny looks, whether it be for her hairs multitude of colours or because when she ate enough, she ate enough to feed a small army; not that it bothered her -she'd never taken any notice of the Normals, it was just a little annoying. Here though, at this 'Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters', Falcon caught herself smirking even at the though of the name, but here, nobody stared.  
Shovelling a few more chips in her mouth she let herself think what it might be like, to live here and fit in for once. The thought was quickly crushed; she couldn't do things like that, not before, not in the future, and especially not now, what with him constantly after her.   
  
"Had enough yet?" Jean's voice broke through her musings,   
  
"Yeah." She wasn't lying either.   
  
"Great," she smiled, "Now, is there anything else you'd like to see?"   
  
It was just Jean and Falcon; since Scott had had to leave halfway through to make sure he had everything ready for his last class.   
  
"Wouldn't say no to you showin' me your powers, since I showed you mine."   
  
Jean thought about it for a moment, and couldn't see a reason not to, so she agreed.  
"Actually, I can only show you one, and it's the same as yours, see?" Their lunch trays floated over to the pile whist, at the same time, their rubbish glided slowly to the bin.   
  
Falcon frowned, "Neat, but how cine you can only show me one? Will the other kill me, or something?"   
  
The red-haired mutant across from her laughed,  
"No, it won't kill you. I'm slightly telepathic too, but it's pretty hard to demonstrate, as you can guess."   
  
"S'pose," she conceded, "so what'd we do now?"   
  
"Well, the days final classes are just finishing for the day, and all the other students will be rushing here for food soon. Do you want to be here for that?"   
  
"No." was the quick response.   
  
"Then I guess you may as well wonder around for a few hours. Chances are the Professor will want to see you again sometime before the end of the day, but if its not before lights out, we'll sort out a bed for you."   
  
Falcon's jaw had dropped at the mention of lights out with her brains permission,  
"Light's out? C'mon, you gotta be kidding me!"   
  
"I'm not joking -lights out by eleven thirty on school nights and twelve thirty on non-school nights."   
  
Falcon gave her a look, "That's just plain cruel y'know."   
  
"Maybe to you, but it means that they have a better chance of getting up in the mornings."   
  
Falcon smirked, looking highly suspicious of the idea, but instead changed the subject, "So, I can just go wherever?"  
At Jean's nod of ascent, Falcon grinned again, "Great! See ya!"   
  
As Falcon jogged off down the nearest corridor, Jean watched with confusion. The feelings she'd been picking up on didn't make any sense; fear and relief? Fear of what? There was nothing to be afraid of here. And why would she feel relieved at the same time?  
Shaking her head at the confusion cause by it all, she went in the opposite direction to find the Professor. He was much more powerful than she. And must've picked up on at least as many things as she had. Maybe he even had some answers too.   
  
**   
  
Jean, Xavier and the rest of the X-Men were back in his office an hour later, discussing their latest enigma, also known as Falcon. Without a name, a real, birth name (and they severely doubted 'Falcon' was anywhere on her birth certificate), it was had to track down where she'd come from. Then, there were the contradicting, mixed feelings they had yet to decipher, that emanated off her in waves, and the way she lied about her mutancy; first she could fly, now, instead, she was a telekinetic.  
It was a puzzle with several pieces missing, to say the least.   
  
"Why do you think she's afraid of us?" asked Scott, "Couldn't she equally be scared of something else entirely?"   
  
Jean looked quizzically at him, "What do you mean?"   
  
"All the differences in her mutancy. Maybe she wasn't lying much as,"   
  
"Hiding the truth?" Xavier finished with a nod.   
  
Logan was confused; it was like some secret code, "What're you all going on about?"   
  
"Maybe she's telekinetic as well as able to fly." Storm explained, who'd caught on quickly to the latest theory.   
  
"Okay, so she say's she's called Falcon, the flying part would definitely make sense." Jean agreed, "But she's afraid of us finding out? Why?"   
  
**   
  
Having received word from some girl called Rogue, Falcon was on her way to Xavier's office. She was also admiring how rich the school must be to be able to afford such lavish hallways: the walls were solid oak panelling probably, the floors were plush with either carpet of rug, and there was silverware in the entrance. She was also a little lost, although she was loath to admit it, and it wasn't until after the fourth backward turn that she really got her bearings.  
It was then, when she was in sight of his office, that the tell tale pain in her head that told of him paying a visit.  
She hated him, but she was too afraid of what he could do, to do much other than fifth it every time her tried to get inside her head. The only problem was it always hurt, she always lost, and he always punished her for it.   
  
"Not now!" she whispered, mentally trying to prevent whatever he was doing, but the only reward for her efforts was a flash of pain that blinded her eyes with white spots. Unknowingly, she cried out.  
Then he was there, smirking down at her where she'd crumpled to the floor,  
"Will you ever learn?" he sneered,   
  
"Leave me alone."   
  
"Hm, I guess not. Silly question really."   
  
Falcon pulled herself to her feet, wavering from side to side not a little bit while her head span.   
  
"Leave me alone." She repeated.   
  
Logan and the others, having heard a cry, came out after Jean and Xavier who 'sensed' something was wrong moments before it happened.  
The group were rounded the corner at a run, only to see Falcon talking to empty air.   
  
"Is she nuts?" Logan muttered.   
  
Xavier wheeled himself closer, leaning forward like one trying to see or hear something very far away,  
"No," he said, "There is something, or someone else there. It's like a faint shadow, standing in front of Falcon." His faced frowned in concentration, "She doesn't want him here," Then after a pause, "…that's the one she's scared of."   
  
"Can't you make it leave?" asked Scott, who figured that if Xavier could see him whilst nobody else could, it must be something connected to telepathy.   
  
"I can try." The silence was deafening for a few seconds that spanned an eternity, the only voice at the other end of the corridor. Xavier's brow creased in effort until Falcon cried out again and collapsed back to the floor.  
After sharing a look with the Professor, Jean rushed over, but Falcon was already stumbling to her feet, staring at the X-Men that had been on Jean's heels.  
"Are you okay?" Jean asked,   
  
Her mind was doing super speeds caught between panic about what they might've seen, and anger at herself for still not being able to stop him, it didn't help that her head was hurting more than ever before, either. "How much did you all see?"   
  
Xavier wheeled himself closer to the teenager, projecting subtle thoughts of calm and friendliness; he didn't to check to know Jean was doing the same.  
In a placating tone he said, "Enough to know you're in trouble, and that you need help."   
  
Despite her best efforts, Falcon felt herself begin to shake. It'd never hurt that much before.  
"I'm fine. I'm always fine. And I don't need your help." She glared at them, "I gotta go."   
  
"You said you'd stay for the night!" yelled Wolverine.   
  
Turning angry eyes on Logan she yelled back, "Yeah well I lied! You're an adult -I'm sure you understand." She span on her heel and fled back up the corridor, stumbling through the now multiple corridor.   
  
"Great going." Seethed Scott, "Smooth talking the whole way there, Logan."   
  
"Scott." Jean warned, placing an arm on his.   
  
"Storm, Scott; go after her. Logan, stay here. Jean, with me." Xavier ordered, going back to his office.  
Wolverine growled, he should be the one tracking the kid, but complied.  
Scott and Ororo ran in the direction their quarry had disappeared in, only spotting her as she disappeared around a corner at the other end of the hallway.  
"Falcon, wait!" Ororo cried, "What are you running from?"   
  
Now at a door, the runner faltered, flitting a glance at Storm, "Him," she said, "I'm running from him."   
  
Ororo held up an arm slightly as she and Cyclops pulled to a halt. This had to be done carefully or else she would just keep running, and neither Scott nor 'Ro needed to be a telepath to know that wasn't going to do her any good. They stood about eight feet away from her, but made no move to go any closer.  
"Why are you running?"   
  
"None of your business!"   
  
"Okay," Storm nodded, "But can't you stay here? We'll protect you, keep you safe from him. You wouldn't have to keep running."  
When no immediate outburst followed, she risked taking a small step forward.   
  
"No one can protect me from him." She threw back bitterly.   
  
Scott and Ororo exchanged looks, and Storm took a chance. "Has anyone ever tried?"   
  
Falcon looked at Storm, her eyes unreadable, not blank or empty, but so full of so many emotions that she'd need the Professor's skill and an Empath to decipher them. She didn't say anything for a minute, and the older woman was sure she could hear the younger searching her minds memories, then having a fierce debate between the voices in her mind, until she whispered softly,  
"No."  
  
-----------------------  
  
Post Authors Notes: Awww poor Falcon. Round of "Awww's" from readers please? thank you. so, we've seen a slight development in plot now -we have a bad guy. not much x-men involvement yet, but there will be soon. afterall -this is the x-men universe, not the falcon universen ^_^  
Now go review! C'mon folks it's not hard! Hell flame me if you want -it'll give me a laugh *mwah*  
  
--lani,  
xxx 


	4. Falcon's favourite trick: levitating Log...

Authors Notes: I've been watching the cartoons and i'm over the shock now **sniff**  
  
  
Review Thanks To:   
**An Anti-Sheep Cheese Muffin:** sorry it took so long -i was away for awhile at my grandmas and she doesn't have a computer!  
**Samus:** heheee i know -i only know movie-verse *mwah* oooh thanks for the help with spellings and grammar (my english teacher would scream blue murder) and i'm gonna go through those either after the next few chapters or at the end and do a sort of "falcon: revised" lol.... oh how i amuse myself.  
  
Disclaimer: The only thing i own is the plot, and Falcon, and him.  
  
-------------------------------  
  
**Falcon**   
  
_Chapter Four_   
"No," she whispered.  
'Ro took another step forward, but the movement pulled Falcon out of whatever reverie she had been in, because she stumbled backwards in her sudden haste to get away.  
She continued, "I don't see what it's got to do with anything."   
  
"Everything." Ororo stated, "Take a chance, we'll help you."   
  
Falcon didn't move towards the door, but she didn't show any notion of moving closer to Storm and Scott either.   
  
"What can you do? Prance about and ask him politely to stop? C'mon, get over y'selves."   
  
Ororo was running out of ideas to convince the cynical teen, but thankfully her renowned patience with children was still available in full.  
"The Professor made him leave just now -"   
  
"That was Baldy?" she interrupted, "Y'know that hurt like frickin' hell, and he's well peeved now."   
  
"But he left." Scott spoke up for the first time.   
  
Falcon nodded, "I s'pse."   
  
"Maybe we could make it so he never comes back," said Ororo, "ever."   
Falcon was looking between them, the same expression written on her face as had been present earlier, "You can't." she shook her head, "No one can."   
  
"Stop saying no one can, when no one's ever tried." Scott said,   
  
"Let us help you, then you can decide." Ororo offered, she stood looked at Falcon, knowing that the only think stopping her from running was the thought that maybe they were telling the truth, that they really might be able to help.   
  
"You really think you'll be able to do it?"   
  
The two X-Men nodded in unison.   
  
"Okay, I'm in."   
  
*****   
  
Xavier and Jean sat in his office, relating what they had both seen and felt, Wolverine had come in a few minutes ago and now stood to one side, saying nothing. It was ten minutes after Falcon had bolted, when Ororo, Scott and Logan knocked on the door.   
  
"Come in." Xavier called, his Cambridge accent clear and present as always , he knew what'd happened, or at least the jist of it, from his connection with Scott and Ororo. "Would you like to take a seat?" he asked, Falcon looked once at 'Ro, and then once at Scott, before taking the same seat she'd sat in only a few hours earlier, "Should we start over, perhaps?" At her small nod, he continued, "Well, I'm Charles Xavier, this is Scott Summers, Ororo Munroe, Jean Grey and Logan."   
  
Falcon took her cue, "I'm Falcon, and I know we're starting over and all, but what happened to all the nicknames and stuff?"   
  
Xavier smiled benignly, "I see you remembered then, would you like to remind me?"   
  
She gave him a very sceptical look, "You're Baldy, he's Wolverine, 'Ro's Storm and Scott's Cyclops, oh, and she's Ginger."   
  
"Four outta six, not bad, kiddo." Logan muttered. Falcon, in reply, pulled a face.   
  
"Now, that we've been introduced, perhaps you could clear up something for me?"   
  
Frowning she said, "Depends what you want clearin' up."   
  
"Your powers," said Xavier, "I admit we are a little confused -your name implies you can fly and you said you could fly yourself earlier to my X-Men, but then when I asked what your powers were, you showed telekinesis. You see our problem?"   
  
"Uh, not really." She grinned a mischievous glint in her eyes, "I though you guys were smart?"   
  
Xavier shook his head, "I'm afraid I don't understand."   
  
She groaned, "Blimey, you guys really are thick. Telekinesis is moving stuff right? So, flying is just moving junk. Two and two makes me a flyer."   
  
The X-Men exchanged looks, telekinetic's could fly? The possibility had never really crossed any of their minds -and Jean was one herself.   
  
Curious, Jean asked, "What kinds of things can you move? Weight and control wise?"   
  
The windows behind Xavier opened in unison, and all the books in the surrounded book cases shot off their shelves and hovered, perfectly still, in the air. "Loads of stuff," she turned, the mischievous glint turning to pure deviousness, "And him." Pointing to Logan, she winked, and, like he was attached to a string, he zoomed up to the ceiling in a manner wonderfully like the scene a few hours ago.  
Scott was coughing into his hand in a way that sounded oddly like a laugh but he managed to regain his composure.  
"Kid," it was a growl from the ceiling, "Let me down."   
  
"What did I say last time, when you called me a kid, Wolf-Gang?"   
  
Xavier watched the scene with interest for a moment, letting it continue for a few moments -usually Logan extended his claws in a situation like this.  
When Logan didn't answer, Falcon replied to her own question,  
"I told ya not to do it."  
And with that, he dropped to the floor.   
  
Seeing as it'd cleared itself up, and before Logan could escalate it futher, Xavier chose that moment to continue their previous conversation,  
"As interesting as you levitating Logan to the ceiling is, I believe Storm promised you something."   
  
Falcon jumped to her feet, "How'd you know that?"   
  
Raising his hands in the air peacefully, Xavier said, "I share a telepathic link with Scott and Ororo form having known them for so long. Please, sit down."  
Slowly, she sat back down, staring straight at him,  
"She said you'd make him stop."   
  
He nodded, "I will do my best, but I can't do much if I don't know what, or who, I'm fighting."   
  
"Oh," she sighed, "Guess that means I've got to spill, huh?" she looked around at the X-Men, staring particularly hard at Logan, "In front of all of ya?"  
She only just succeeded in keeping the hesitation out of her voice. Sharing a look with Xavier, Scott nodded and left the office, with the others following in quick succession.   
  
"'Kay, what d'ya wanna know?" She shifted in the seat uncomfortably, she felt a little bare being alone with a telepath.   
  
Xavier thought for a moment, organising the many questions he needed answers for, "Who is he?"   
  
"Don't know." At his questioning look she explained, "He never introduces himself -unless the occasional 'Bringer of your Doom' counts. I am him 'asshole' though, if that's any help, or just 'him'."   
  
"Alright, how long has this been happening? Just recently?"   
  
"Ages," she shrugged, "he's been doing it for as long as I can remember."   
  
He leant forward on his desk, resisting the temptation to rest his head in his hands: this invader had no name and they didn't have a time frame from when it'd all started. So far they had absolutely nothing. "Hmm, could you see him clearly? What does he look like?"   
  
Frowning, she thought back to the latest encounter; it wasn't hard since the pain was still reverberating around her skull, even if it was somewhat fainter than it had been earlier it still wasn't exactly pleasant.  
"I guess he's pretty tall, his hair's kinda grey and he's English … he's got, uh, brown eyes I think, and a grey moustache…" she trailed off thinking then, "And he wears a suit, a black one."   
  
"How do you know he's English?" Xavier asked, intrigued.   
  
Falcon kicked her feet, bored, "Sounds like I used too."   
  
"You're English?"   
  
"Well, yeah, what's that got to do with rain in May?"   
  
He raised his eyebrows; that was certainly a strange manner to put it.  
"You're an illegal immigrant?"   
  
"I prefer, 'not recognised by the government' or 'legally-challenged', but, if you're gonna be harsh then sure."   
  
"You know, if you're going to come to school here, we'll have to get you recognised as a legal immigrant, either that or just as a student attending boarding school."   
  
Falcon froze, then, "Crap: problem. One; I'm not a doctor, and I don't wanna be a doctor. Two, I never said I'd come to you preppy school. So, moving on quick, is that all ya wanna know?"   
  
Resigning himself to a rather long and extensive search, Xavier nodded, "Yes, thank you. I'll get started on a search soon, but first, would you be willing to do some scanes? It would only be to discover the extent of your mutation."   
  
"It would just see my te-k stuff, right?"   
  
"Yes."   
  
"Go ahead and scan away!"   
  
Shaking his head, Xavier smiled, "I don't do it, we have some, facilities, downstairs. Jean is a doctor so she'll do it."   
  
"Oh, 'kay. So is that now or later?"   
  
It was then that Jean knocked on the door, "Professor?"   
  
"Ah Jean, would you take Falcon downstairs?"   
  
She smiled, "Sure. This way, Falcon."   
  
Getting up, she left the room with Jean, when he knew they were gone he called Scott into his office.  
"We have an illegal immigrant from England on our hands."   
  
"Ah." Scott said, wondering what all of this had to do with him.   
  
"My thoughts exactly; so, we'll have to make her a legal immigrant."   
  
Scott looked perplexed beneath his ruby-quartz sunglasses, "How are you going to do that?"   
  
Xavier smiled, his eyes twinkling, "How would you and Jean feel about becoming legal guardians?"   
  
-----------------------  
  
Post Authors Notes: next chapter up soon, i just got to add the last bits and format it for ff.net.   
i wrote a humour story as a challenge from my friend so i'll type that up eventually, and there's also this little tid-bit of scott angst from this other story i've started called "out of reach" :  
  
_ Midnight was such a wonderful time in the mansion's grounds, which was where his meandering feet had finally taken him. The sky was completely clear, the millions of stars like fireflies high above him, beautiful and just out of his reach, like sleep.  
The canvas on which they'd been painted wasn't black, like so many people offhandedly described it -he could see black and what he saw through his shaded red visor wasn't black. To him the sky was the darkest red, elegant, never-ending, and almost majestic. A long time ago, before his mutation had manifested, he remembered staring at the sky and it being dark blues and purples, he used to stay up for hours just to stare at it when he was little, the interest had never faded as he got older, but other things that, at the time had been oh-so-much more important he'd never really done it again. Red wasn't so bad though, once you got used to it. _   
--lani,  
xxx 


	5. Decisions, decisions, and oh yeah that

Authors Notes: I've been watching the cartoons and i'm over the shock now **sniff**  
Review Thanks To:   
**Samus:** jean can fly? cool... well since she never did it so maybe she's in denial, lol! this can be AU...  
**Delphi:** yeah well i think you've read this too, lol...  
Disclaimer: The only thing i own is the plot, and Falcon, and him.  
  
-------------------------------  
  
**Falcon**   
  
_Chapter Five_   
Scott held his jaw upwards by pure will power, "Professor?"   
  
Xavier mentally laughed at the predicted reaction, but refrained from saying anything out loud; Scott would've been outraged at being labelled 'predictable'.  
"Falcon isn't American, from what I can tell, she's English, or has at least spent enough time there to have at one time had an English accent if what she said is true, but either way she admitted she's here illegally. If you and Jean become her guardians she has the right to stay here -it would only be until she's eighteen."   
  
"What if she's already eighteen? And what would happen after she turned eighteen?"   
  
"Do you honestly think she is?"   
  
"Well, no, but for arguments sake, lets say she is, and she just looks very young?"   
  
"Scott," said Xavier, "stop grasping at straws: if you don't want to do it, just say so, I'm sure I could find somebody else."   
  
Scott Summers wasn't as rigid as his pupils believed, and currently he ran a hand through his hair, careful to mind his sunglasses, and groaned,  
"Can I talk to Jean first?"   
  
"I wouldn't let you say anything without doing that, Scott."   
  
He nodded, in hindsight, he'd expected that, "I'll go sort out a dormitory for her and talk to Jean later."   
  
"Good, I believe there's space in Rogue, Kitty and Jubilation's room."   
  
"Thank you, Professor." That valuable piece of information had just saved him a good deal of time -now all he had to do was check that the girls didn't mind a new roommate, and find a bed to put in there with sheets and pillow as well.  
With a final nod to the Professor, he left the office in search of the three girls concerned-all of which were likely to be in the canteen hall, with boys.   
  
***   
  
Down in the lab, Falcon lay not a little warily on the metal examination table as Jean prepared the CAT Scan machine. She may have agreed to it, but that didn't mean she had to like it, did it? Well, either way she was not enjoying the experience. "Ready?"   
  
"Always," Falcon grinned, "Lets get it on." It came out braver than she felt. The table moved into the scanner with a pressurised burst.  
Eternities later, the table moved again, releasing her from the uncomfortable feeling of being locked inside.  
"Done?" she checked.   
  
"Done." Jean affirmed, "I need to know a few more things for our records though," Falcon's stomach dropped a little, "I guess your name is going to remain a mystery?"   
  
"Oh it's not a mystery."   
  
"Unknown then, unknown to us that is, not you." She'd added at Falcon's look. "Okay, so age?"   
  
"Fourteen." She watched, only half interested, over Jean's shoulder as she typed it into little boxes on the computer screen.  
"Date of birth?"   
  
"You can't figure that out yourself? Wait, that's right, you guys are stupid! Fourteen years ago. Duh. That means you take fourteen from the current year."   
  
Jean raised a carefully sculpted eyebrow, "No day? Month?"   
  
Couldn't hurt, she thought, "May."   
  
She got a warm smile in thanks, "I can work with that, so, eye and hair colour?"   
  
"You can't see for yourself?" she asked in disbelief.   
  
"Humour me."   
  
"Eyes are brown and hair is, well," she fingered a lock that'd fallen from its plait, "multi-coloured."   
  
"Naturally, not dyed, Falcon."   
  
"Fine, be boring then. Browny-blacky; it was a bit of both."   
  
"Okay, last two now -place of birth and mutation, since I guess you won't reveal anything about your family?"  
To Jean's surprise, a burst of emotions whipped over her senses, emanating strongly from Falcon.   
  
"I was born on Earth and I'm telekinetic."   
  
"Nothing more specific?"   
  
Falcon gave her a look, "I just named you one planet out of the nine in our solar system alone-I'd say that was pretty specific."   
  
"Alright then. Well, if you remember the way we came," she waited a moment for a nod, "then you're few to go. If you want something to do, its cartoon time in the main room now."   
  
Shaking her head, she went to the door, but didn't leave immediately; instead she paused at the threshold to share a final comment,  
"Cartoons, wow. You've got millions of dollars of mansion and technology and ya'll are watching The Simpsons; just like everybody else in the country. Puts stuff in perspective, don't it?"  
And then she was gone, wandering down the grey metal hallway, a smirk on her face.   
Confusing people was fun.   
  
Jean saved and closed the records file, so that it would be available to all with the correct passwords. Now she'd spend the next few hours analysing Falcon's brain scans -the fun you had when you were a doctor at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.   
  
***   
  
The main room of the mansion was a bizarre mix of rooms and more commonly known as the den. A large television was the main focus, with an overstuffed sofa to lounge about on, a football table, and large cushioned floor space for many bodies to sprawl about on, there were even a few tables and chairs around for those that might need or want to use them.  
Right now, a lot of the youngest residents of the mansion had commandeered the sofa, whilst the older lay across the floor and those that weren't interested in watching the weekly mini-marathon of cartoons either weren't in the room or were doing something else, in the den or somewhere else.   
  
It was this scene that Falcon walked in on -a tangled mass of bodies that covered the floor and buried the sofa and random amounts of people just sitting around in huddled groups just talking, joking, and more than likely gossiping about the days events. Also, sure enough, The Simpsons' was playing on the big screen. A few people looked up at her arrival, and a few even smiled or said 'Hey' in way of greeting.  
However, Falcon stopped in the threshold to stare at the mix of people -such a variety she'd never seen before: most were human looking, but there was the odd one that stood out as definitely a mutant. For example, there was a girl by the window whose skin was pale, shimmering purple, her hair was royal purple like her nails, though whether that was a consequence of her mutation or something she'd done by choice, she didn't know, but in her opinion, it looked pretty cool.  
A boy on the sofa had hair that kept changing colours, and from what she could tell when he looked up and said 'Hello', so did his eyes. Next to him, a girl was making sparks of sizzling electricity dance between her fingers.  
Her observations were disrupted by a group of girls leaping up to meet her. They were all older than her, probably only by a few years, one had pale skin and lightly freckled cheeks, light brown hair and wore jeans and a t-shirt, her nose slightly longer and straighter than most; the one in the middle wore bright yellow clothes that rather highlighted her dark skin and raven black hair; and the last was strangely dressed -aside from her average dark maroon hair containing a stark white streak down the front, the trousers and strappy top she wore were pretty normal, but she also wore elbow length gloves. Maybe she just didn't like people seeing her skin? Though, thinking about it, she couldn't say much about skin -there was three layers between her bare skin and the air for the pure reason that it was October and cold outside -the only skin to be seen was on her neck, hands and face.   
  
"Err, hey." She said, as they practically bounded up to her.   
  
"You're Falcon, right?" asked the one dressed in yellow.   
  
"Yeah, who're you?"   
  
"I'm Jubilee!"   
  
"Kitty."   
  
"Rogue."   
  
"Yeah, and we're your new roommates!" said Jubilee, apparently ecstatic at the idea.  
At Falcon's blank look, Rogue, the contradiction one, explained,   
"Mr. Summers, said you needed a dorm to sleep in, at least for tonight anyway, and we had room in ours and here we are…"   
  
"Oh, cool?"   
  
"Don't sound to excited, will you?"   
  
Falcon stuck out her tongue, which seemed to amuse the three girls.  
"So, do you want to see our dorm?"   
  
"Sure, why not."   
  
Like some bizarre machine on autopilot, they all grinned manically and grabbed her by the arms to lead her upstairs to the dormitories.  
""Girls and guys sleep in differed dorms," Jubilee was explaining, "And we aren't allowed in each others rooms after nine on any night which is totally nasty, but its better than it was: it used to be at all, but there was like, a revolt. Oh right, we're here."  
Indeed they were. Rogue, who'd taken Kitty's arm, had disengaged herself and opened the wooden door with a flourish,  
"Volia!" she announced, "Our humble abode!"   
  
Unlike the hallways, which were finely wood panelled with several paintings and statues lining the walls, the dorm room appeared slightly more modern: the beds were single and by the looks of it, made from shiny chrome, the carpet was fluffy blue and a window opposite the door looked over the expansive grounds, and apparently they liked spraying deodorant -there was the distinct smell of it about the room.  
The room had also very obviously been customised, though with certain boundaries -each bed was different, decorated with blankets, cushions, throws; one even had photographs pinned to either side, there was one that hadn't be changed though -it was merely covered in green sheets and white blanket and pillow.   
"That's yours -Mr. Summers put it in a little while ago."   
  
"You'll so have to make it your own: green is totally not you." exclaimed Jubilee, eyeing the bed with horror as she stepped over a pile of textbooks to the bed with a massive poster tacked above it, "What do you think of him? Isn't he gorgeous?"  
Falcon stared at her, then raised her eyebrows at Rogue and Kitty,  
"Is she for real?" she mouthed,   
  
"Oh yeah." Was the silent reply.   
  
Shrugging, she took a closer look at the poster -it was one that adorned several subways and was pasted on just as many billboards, though she still couldn't see anything very special about the blonde haired man.  
"He's alright -if you like that kinda thing, I s'pose."   
  
"Oh my God! How can you say that?" she's leapt up onto her bed and kissed the poster on the would-be man's lips.   
  
"Well, it's pretty easy really," she said, "Y'see, when ya see the same poster over and over and over, everywhere, all the time, it's easy to get sick of the same face -even in New York."   
  
Jubilee sent her a mock glare while the others dissolved into giggles on the pile of cushions beneath the window.  
"So, what do ya'll do for fun 'round here?"   
  
***   
  
Xavier entered Cerebo alone, his thoughts on the latest mysteries to come to his school. The first was Falcon -there was clearly more to her story than she was telling and he was reluctant to read her mind; the other was the shadow of a man he'd seen in the corridor, somehow he'd entered her mind and projected an image of himself before her. Whoever he was, he would have to be very powerful -and probably an illusionist.  
This in mind, her set about searching for him, unfortunately, it was like trying to find a needle in a world-sized haystack.   
  
***   
  
Eleven o'clock came and went by Jean in the lab as she analysed, re-analysed and cross-analysed Falcon's CAT scans. Either Falcon had misunderstood what she'd said, or not even known herself the extent of her mutations.  
She was still there, an hour later, when Scott found her, and she was still pouring over data.  
"Hey," he said, "Why don't you give all of this a break?"  
Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her into an embrace. Jean sighed, relaxing into his strong arms,  
"You're right. I think I've finished anyway. But do you know how amazing all of this is?" she gestured to the computer screen, nearby light boxes and many printouts.  
Quite frankly, medical things weren't his strong point; all these scans and data sheets didn't make much sense to him, so, he replied in a way he hoped was satisfactory,  
"Very?"   
  
"Do you know what it means, Scott?"   
  
"Uh," Once again Scott prevailed over Cyclops.   
  
"She has a mutation similar to yours, hun."   
  
"Telekinesis? You have that Jean." Scott failed to see where this was going.   
  
"No, she has two -like I have telepathy and telekinesis, Falcon has telekinesis, but her CAT scan's show DNA a lot like yours."   
  
"So -"   
  
"So, it could give us information on yours, we might even be able to find out if there are other ways to control the blasts."   
  
"Hang on," said Scott. "Is she telekinetic with the possibility of blasts, or does she already have them? Are they powered by the sun?"   
  
Jean looked through the data again for a moment, "From what I can tell its active and like yours -we're going to have to tell the Professor."   
  
"Let's do it in the morning, that way I can have you to myself all night," he broke off to kiss her neck, "Come on, lets go to bed for now, it can wait."   
  
-----------------------  
  
Post Authors Notes: i don't know when the next chapter will be up, cause i don't like this story at all anymore, so, yeah.   
--lani,  
xxx 


End file.
